Smart Meter Planning Using GIS

A leading power distribution company serving millions of consumers across urban and rural areas faced challenges in efficiently managing and expanding their Smart Metering Infrastructure. With a growing customer base, the company aimed to modernize its metering network to improve operational efficiency, enhance customer experience, and enable real-time energy monitoring. However, their existing manual processes and legacy systems limited their ability to scale smart meter deployments efficiently. The lack of a centralized, GIS-enabled platform made it difficult to identify optimal installation sites, track smart meters, and respond to service disruptions promptly.

The Challenges:

Lack of Geospatial Intelligence – The existing planning process lacked a GIS-integrated approach, making it difficult to analyze infrastructure readiness for smart meter installations.
Manual Site Selection – Identifying suitable locations for new smart meters was time-consuming and often resulted in inefficient placement.
Data Silos and Limited Accessibility – Meter data was scattered across different systems, making it challenging for teams to access and analyze consumption patterns effectively.
Operational Delays – Reliance on outdated processes for meter reading, service disconnections, and maintenance planning led to delays and increased operational costs.

Recognizing these limitations, they sought an advanced GIS-based Smart Meter Planning Application that could streamline deployment, improve monitoring, and enhance decision-making capabilities.

The Solution: Smart Meter Planning Application

Smart Meter Planning Application is a GIS-powered web platform designed to optimize the planning, deployment, and management of Smart Metering Infrastructure. By integrating real-time geospatial data with smart meter analytics, the solution provides:

Geospatial Site Selection – A GIS-based decision-making system to analyze network infrastructure, terrain, land use, and existing meter locations, helping planners select the most suitable sites for new installations.
Interactive Smart Meter Map – A dynamic map visualization displaying real-time meter locations, their status, and historical readings, enabling quick analysis and troubleshooting.
Seamless Data Integration – Synchronization of smart meter data across web and mobile platforms, ensuring accessibility for field teams and decision-makers. This integration incorporates essential data layers to enhance network planning and operational efficiency.

Data Layers:

Network Infrastructure: Displaying power lines, transformers, substations, and other network assets.

Land Use/Zoning: Understanding the type of area (residential, commercial, industrial)

Terrain Data: Elevation data for planning communication networks.

Existing Smart Meter Locations: Visualizing existing smart meters to optimize network planning and identify areas for expansion.

Key features:

Conducting individual or bulk searches using coordinates or addresses.
Data retrievals are made effortless by integration with the Customer Information System and allied systems.
Offering intuitive dashboards and reporting modules for tracking installation progress and meter type analytics. 
Taking map data to field to fasten the installation and report back on any challenges in the field as well.

Conclusion:

The implementation of the Smart Meter Planning Application led to a 40% reduction in manual intervention by automating meter readings, service disconnections, and maintenance processes. The GIS-based site selection feature helped in reducing operational cost due to streamlined planning.

Contact Us:

Looking for automating and streamlining your process to achieve operational efficiency through GIS contact Hexamap Solutions today.

About the authors:

Navaneetha Krishnan Asokan

Experienced GIS professional with 2 decades of expertise in geospatial analysis, data management, and solution development. Skilled in ArcGIS, Python, and open-source GIS tools, with proven success in cloud-based solutions and automation. Extensive experience implementing GIS solutions across diverse sectors (Electrical, Construction, Survey, Utility and Land Management), Specializing in spatial data modeling, precision mapping, and geospatial analysis. A proven track record of delivering high-quality, collaborative projects, optimizing performance and automating workflows.